A Catholic school has banned Harry Potter books claiming the curses and spells in the book series are real.

St Edward Catholic School in Nashville, Tennessee recently removed all of author JK Rowling’s bestselling fantasy novels from the school library.

Reverend Dan Reehil, a pastor at the Roman Catholic parish school, told The Tennessean that the decision to ban the books came after Reehill consulted with several exorcists in the US and Rome.

Reehill said: ‘These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception.’

‘The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells, which when read by a human being, risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.’

The school made the decision to remove the books after receiving advice from exorcists (Picture: Getty Images)

Curses and spells are a prominent factor in the book series, first published in 1997, which chronicles the lives of Harry Potter, a young wizard, and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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Christians have been notably wary of the books ever since the first in the series. In 2003, the future Pope Benedict XVI called the books ‘subtle seduction which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.’